[1] Paul Hermelin grew up in Avignon[2] in the working-class district of Monclar[3] and has Belgian roots.
[6][7][8] Hermelin spent the second fifteen years of his professional life in the French government, primarily in the Ministry of Finance.
[9][5] From 1991 to 1993, he worked in Dominique Strauss-Kahn's Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade as chief of staff.
[14][15][13] In January 2013, Hermelin was appointed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius as France's Special Representative for Economic Relations with India.
Marianne magazine reports that, by comparison, the salary increases for the 22,000 French employees fell from €900,000 in 2014 to €806,000 in 2015.